UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

FLORENCE OLUSHOLA KALEJAIYE,

Petitioner,

v.

No. 96-1856

U.S. IMMIGRATION & NATURALIZATION

SERVICE,

Respondent.

On Petition for Review of an Order

of the Board of Immigration Appeals.

(A73-739-510)

Submitted: April 17, 1997

Decided: May 1, 1997

Before NIEMEYER and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges, and

BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge.

_________________________________________________________________

Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion.

_________________________________________________________________

COUNSEL

Randall L. Johnson, JOHNSON & ASSOCIATES, Arlington, Virginia, for Appellant. Frank W. Hunger, Assistant Attorney General,

Donald E. Keener, Deputy Director, Kristin A. Cabral, Senior Litigation Counsel, Office of Immigration Litigation, UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.

_________________________________________________________________
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See

Local Rule 36(c).

_________________________________________________________________

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Florence Kalejaiye petitions for review of a final order of the

Board of Immigration Appeals (Board) denying her application for

asylum and withholding of deportation. Because substantial evidence

supports the Board's decision, we affirm.

Kalejaiye, a native and citizen of Nigeria, entered the United States

in March 1992 without inspection by an immigration officer, in violation of 8 U.S.C.A. § 1251(a)(1) (West Supp. 1997). In April 1995, the

Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) issued an order to show

cause why she should not be deported. Kalejaiye filed an application

for asylum and withholding of deportation. Following a hearing, in

which Kalejaiye conceded deportability, the Immigration Judge (IJ)

issued a decision denying asylum and withholding of deportation but

granting voluntary departure. The Board affirmed after concluding

that Kalejaiye had not demonstrated a well-founded fear of persecution. Kalejaiye timely petitions this court for review of the Board's

order.

Kalejaiye testified at her hearing before the IJ that since 1976, her

father has been a member of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), a

political party which supports democracy and opposes the government in power. Her father became chairman of the local UPN chapter

in 1989, and still holds that position. She testified that she supported

her father's political activities as the local UPN chairman by cooking,

party arranging, and arranging for meetings once a month when the

UPN meetings were held in her family home. Her father went into

hiding for nine months starting in December 1989 because of rumors

that UPN leaders would be arrested. He no longer lived with the family but would intermittently visit the family.

A week after her father went into hiding, approximately ten military officers came to Kalejaiye family's home. She claimed that the

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officers dragged her and her mother around the house, locked them

in a room, and damaged their belongings while they were looking for

her father. She claims that she required treatment in a hospital. Thereafter, Kalejaiye, her mother, and six siblings went to live with relatives for about three months. When the family returned to their home,

the military would come to their home about once a month to inquire

about the whereabouts of Kalejaiye's father.

Kalejaiye testified that several of her family members, including

her father, mother and youngest sister still live in Nigeria. One of

Kalejaiye's two brothers was arrested in 1995, after she left Nigeria.

Kalejaiye testified that she did not know why her brother was

arrested, but speculated that the military arrested him in hopes of finding her father.

The Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) authorizes the

Attorney General, in her discretion, to confer asylum on any refugee.

8 U.S.C. § 1158(a) (1994). The Act defines a refugee as a person

unwilling or unable to return to her native country"because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political

opinion." 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A) (1994); see M.A. v. INS, 899

F.2d 304, 307 (4th Cir. 1990) (en banc). The alien must prove that the

fear of persecution "stems directly from one of the five categories

listed in the Act." Huaman-Cornelio v. Board of Immigration

Appeals, 979 F.2d 995, 999 (4th Cir. 1992). If an applicant establishes

past persecution, he is presumed to have a well-founded fear of future

persecution rebuttable by evidence establishing a change in conditions

in the country such that any fear of future persecution is no longer

objectively reasonable. 8 C.F.R. § 208.13(b)(1)(i) (1996).

This court must uphold the Board's decision if it is supported by

substantial evidence from the record as a whole. Huaman-Cornelio,

979 F.2d at 999. The reviewing court can reverse the Board only if

the evidence "was so compelling that no reasonable fact finder could

fail to find the requisite fear of persecution." INS v. Elias-Zacarias,

502 U.S. 478, 483-84 (1992).

We conclude that substantial evidence supports the Board's ruling.

On appeal, Kalejaiye claims that she demonstrated a well-founded

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fear of persecution based on her membership in a social group,

namely her family, and her political opinion. Although Kalejaiye

claims that her family has been persecuted for supporting the UPN,

she fails to show that it was known to the Nigerian government or the

military that anyone other than her father was active in the UPN or

its leadership. Most importantly, Kalejaiye has not shown that she,

her mother, or her siblings have been targeted for persecution for having provided assistance when her father held UPN meetings in the

family home. Also, we do not find that the evidence presented by

Kalejaiye about the military searches and questions established persecution. Further, none of the background material offered by Kalejaiye

indicates that the Nigerian government has sought and arrested UPN

supporters or members.

Kalejaiye also fails to demonstrate persecution based on her political opinion. The military questioned her and searched her family

home because they sought the whereabouts of her father. She has not

shown that any of the military's actions were based on her political

opinion or her support of the UPN. Further, Kalejaiye has not presented any evidence that the Nigerian government or the military

imputed her father's political opinion to her or her family. While she

was indeed the victim of a military search of her family home, there

is no evidence that she was singled out because of her political opinion or because of her family membership. See M.A., 899 F.2d at 315.

As Kalejaiye has failed to meet the less stringent burden of proof

for asylum, she cannot meet the higher standard to qualify for withholding of deportation. INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca , 480 U.S. 421, 430-

32 (1987). Accordingly, we deny the petition for review. We dispense

with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument

would not aid the decisional process.

PETITION DENIED

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